Method and system for collecting user information according to providing virtual desktop infrastructure service

ABSTRACT

Collecting user information according to providing a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) service is disclosed. A user information collection system includes a service provisioning manager configured to manage provisioning of a VDI service provided from a VDI service provider, a charging manager configured to manage charging information according to a use of the VDI service, a policy manager configured to manage a policy for the VDI service, a user manager configured to manage information of the user, a VDI service lifecycle manager configured to manage a lifecycle of the VDI service, and a multi-tenant connection manager configured to manage connection infrastructure information between the VDI service provider and a cloud environment (or external software).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2021-0009347, filed on Jan. 22, 2021, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

Example embodiments of the following description relate to a method andsystem for collecting user information according to providing a virtualdesktop infrastructure (VDI) service.

2. Description of the Related Art

A virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or a desktop virtualizationrefers to a solution that provides a virtual desktop and a data storagespace for each user using resources of a server that operates in acenter through virtualization and also refers to technology forgenerating another computer that operates in a physically absent, butactually operating computer.

With activation of such VDI, an environment of using general personalservices is expected to evolve to a thin terminal and/or zero terminalenvironment.

Meanwhile, online service providers or advertising providers desire toown personal information to increase their sales. However, there is anissue of, such as, for example, improving recognition of personalinformation and cost payment for use and accordingly, collecting andusing personal information of a user is becoming more difficult due toblocking of third party cookies.

SUMMARY

Example embodiments provide a method and system for collecting userinformation that allows online service providers and/or advertisingproviders to provide a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)-basedcomputing service and an additional service to users and to collect userinformation generated through the provided VDI-based computing serviceand additional service.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided a user information collection system implemented by at leastone computer apparatus, the user information collection system includinga service provisioning manager configured to manage provisioning of avirtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) service provided from a VDI serviceprovider; a charging manager configured to manage charging informationaccording to a use of the VDI service by a user; a policy managerconfigured to manage a policy for the VDI service; a user managerconfigured to manage information of the user using the VDI service; aVDI service lifecycle manager configured to manage a lifecycle of theVDI service provided from the VDI service provider; and a multi-tenantconnection manager configured to manage connection infrastructureinformation between at least one of a cloud environment for providingthe VDI service and external software as a service (SaaS) and the VDIservice provider.

The user manager may be configured to provide a user interface forreceiving a consent on providing data collected according to the use ofthe VDI service by the user to the VDI service provider, collect thedata according to the use of the VDI service by the user, and transferthe collected data to the VDI service provider that provides the VDIservice.

A record related to transferring the collected data to the VDI serviceprovider may be stored in a blockchain or an unmodifiable ledger.

The user information collection system may further include a VDI servicemonitor configured to monitor the VDI service and to determine whetherservice level agreement (SLA) requirements of an individual user levelare met.

The VDI service monitor may be configured to determine whether aprovision state of the VDI service is appropriate from perspective ofthe VDI service provider.

The user information collection system may further include a VDI servicelifecycle manager configured to manage the lifecycle of the VDI serviceprovided from the VDI service provider.

The VDI service provider may include a physical computer apparatus of aprovider that desires to collect user data through providing of the VDIservice. A computer program provided from the VDI service provider or anexternal provider may be installed and executed on the user informationcollection system, and an external module of the VDI service provider oran external module of the external provider may be configured to receivedata of the user collected by the user information collection systemthrough the computer program that is installed and executed on the userinformation collection system.

The computer program provided from the external provider may include anadvertising (ad) agent or a federated learning agent.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided a user information collection method of a computer apparatusincluding at least one processor, the user information collection methodincluding, by the at least one processor, receiving a VDI servicerequest from a user; verifying VDI service contract details of a VDIservice provider to which the user belongs; verifying a capability ofthe VDI service based on a level of the user; collecting data accordingto a use of a VDI service by the user; and transferring the collecteddata.

A computer program provided from the VDI service provider or an externalprovider may be installed and executed on the computer apparatus, andthe transferring of the collected data may include transmitting thecollected data to an external module of the VDI service provider or anexternal module of the external provider through the computer programthat is installed and executed on the user information collectionsystem.

Cost according to the use of the VDI service by the user may be chargedto the VDI service provider that provides the VDI service, or may beco-shared with a provider of a specific website visited by the user or aprovider of a software service used by the user.

A differential VDI service may be provided based on the level of theuser and the capability of the VDI service.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided a non-transitory computer-readable record medium storinginstructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor toperform the user information collection method.

According to some example embodiments, online service providers and/oradvertising providers may provide a virtual desktop infrastructure(VDI)-based computing service and an additional service to users and maycollect user information generated through the provided VDI-basedcomputing service and additional service.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. The description and specific examples in this summaryare intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects, features, and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent and more readily appreciated from the followingdescription of embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings of which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network environment according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computerapparatus according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user informationcollection system according to an example embodiment;

FIGS. 4 to 6 illustrate examples of using a virtual desktopinfrastructure (VDI) service according to an example embodiment;

FIGS. 7 to 9 illustrate examples of a structure for collecting useinformation of a user in a VDI according to an example embodiment; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a user informationcollection method according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, some example embodiments will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. The following detailedstructural or functional description of example embodiments is providedas an example only and various alterations and modifications may be madeto the example embodiments. Accordingly, the example embodiments are notconstrued as being limited to the disclosure and should be understood toinclude all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the technicalscope of the disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for describing various exampleembodiments only, and is not to be used to limit the disclosure. Thesingular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It willbe further understood that the terms “comprises/comprising” and/or“includes/including” when used herein, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

Terms, such as first, second, and the like, may be used herein todescribe components. Each of these terminologies is not used to definean essence, order or sequence of a corresponding component but usedmerely to distinguish the corresponding component from othercomponent(s). For example, a first component may be referred to as asecond component, and similarly the second component may also bereferred to as the first component, without departing from the scope ofthe disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms, including technical and scientificterms, used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. Terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, are to beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art, and are not to be interpreted in anidealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Regarding the reference numerals assigned to the elements in thedrawings, it should be noted that the same elements will be designatedby the same reference numerals, wherever possible, even though they areshown in different drawings. Also, in the description of embodiments,detailed description of well-known related structures or functions willbe omitted when it is deemed that such description will cause ambiguousinterpretation of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, example embodiments are described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

A user information collection system according to the exampleembodiments may be implemented by at least one computer apparatus. Here,a computer program according to an example embodiment may be installedand executed on the computer apparatus and the computer apparatus mayperform a user information collection method according to the exampleembodiments under control of the executed computer program. Theaforementioned computer program may be stored in a computer-readablerecord medium to computer-implement the user information collectionmethod according to the example embodiments in conjunction with thecomputer apparatus.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network environment according to anexample embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the network environment mayinclude a plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130, and 140, aplurality of servers 150 and 160, and a network 170. FIG. 1 is providedas an example only. A number of electronic devices or a number ofservers is not limited thereto. Also, the network environment of FIG. 1is provided as an example among environments applicable to the exampleembodiments and an environment applicable to the example embodiments isnot limited to the network environment of FIG. 1.

Each of the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130, and 140 maybe a fixed terminal or a mobile terminal that is configured as acomputer apparatus. For example, the plurality of electronic devices110, 120, 130, and 140 may be a smartphone, a mobile phone, a navigationdevice, a computer, a laptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal,a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP),a tablet PC, and the like. For example, although FIG. 1 illustrates ashape of a smartphone as an example of the electronic device 110, theelectronic device 110 used herein may refer to one of various types ofphysical computer apparatuses capable of communicating with otherelectronic devices 120, 130, and 140, and/or the servers 150 and 160over the network 170 in a wireless or wired communication manner.

The communication scheme is not limited and may include a near fieldwireless communication scheme between devices as well as a communicationscheme using a communication network (e.g., a mobile communicationnetwork, wired Internet, wireless Internet, a broadcasting network, anda satellite network) includable in the network 170. For example, thenetwork 170 may include at least one of network topologies that includea personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a campus areanetwork (CAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network(WAN), a broadband network (BBN), and Internet. Also, the network 170may include at least one of network topologies that include a busnetwork, a star network, a ring network, a mesh network, a star-busnetwork, a tree or hierarchical network, and the like. However, they areprovided as examples only.

Each of the servers 150 and 160 may be configured as a computerapparatus or a plurality of computer apparatuses that provides aninstruction, a code, a file, content, a service, etc., throughcommunication with the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130,and 140 over the network 170. For example, the server 150 may be asystem that provides a service to the plurality of electronic devices110, 120, 130, and 140 connected over the network 170. For example, theservice may include a cryptocurrency service, a virtual exchangeservice, a social network service, a payment service, a risk monitoringservice, an instant messaging service, a game service, a group callservice or an audio conferencing service, a messaging service, a mailservice, a map service, a translation service, a financial service, asearch service, and a content providing service.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computerapparatus according to an example embodiment. Each of the plurality ofelectronic devices 110, 120, 130, and 140 or each of the servers 150 and160 may be implemented by the computer apparatus 200 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, the computer apparatus 200 may include a memory210, a processor 220, a communication interface 230, and an input/output(I/O) interface 240. The memory 210 may include a permanent mass storagedevice, such as random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),and a disk drive, as a non-transitory computer-readable record medium.The permanent mass storage device, such as ROM and disk drive, may beincluded in the computer apparatus 200 as a permanent storage deviceseparate from the memory 210. Also, an OS and at least one program codemay be stored in the memory 210. Such software components may be loadedfrom another non-transitory computer-readable record medium separatefrom the memory 210. The other non-transitory computer-readable recordmedium may include a non-transitory computer-readable record medium, forexample, a floppy drive, a disk, a tape, a DVD/CD-ROM drive, a memorycard, etc. According to other example embodiments, software componentsmay be loaded to the memory 210 through the communication interface 230,instead of the non-transitory computer-readable record medium. Forexample, the software components may be loaded to the memory 210 of thecomputer apparatus 200 based on a computer program installed by filesprovided over the network 170.

The processor 220 may be configured to process instructions of acomputer program by performing basic arithmetic operations, logicoperations, and I/O operations. The computer-readable instructions maybe provided from the memory 210 or the communication interface 230 tothe processor 220. For example, the processor 220 may be configured toexecute received instructions in response to the program code stored inthe storage device, such as the memory 210.

The communication interface 230 may provide a function for communicationbetween the computer apparatus 200 and another apparatus, for example,the aforementioned storage devices through the network 170. For example,the processor 220 of the computer apparatus 200 may transfer a requestor an instruction created based on a program code stored in the storagedevice such as the memory 210, data, a file, etc., to other devices overthe network 170 under control of the communication interface 230.Inversely, a signal, an instruction, data, a file, etc., from anotherapparatus may be received at the computer apparatus 200 through thecommunication interface 230 of the computer apparatus 200 by goingthrough the network 170. For example, a signal, an instruction, content,data, etc., received through the communication interface 230 may betransferred to the processor 220 or the memory 210, and a file, etc.,may be stored in a storage medium, for example, the permanent storagedevice, further includable in the computer apparatus 200.

The I/O interface 240 may be a device used for interface with an I/Oapparatus 250. For example, an input device may include a device, suchas a microphone, a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and an output device mayinclude a device, such as a display, a speaker, etc. As another example,the I/O interface 240 may be a device for interface with an apparatus inwhich an input function and an output function are integrated into asingle function, such as a touchscreen. At least one component of theI/O apparatus 215 may be configured as a single device with the computerapparatus 200. For example, a touchscreen, a microphone, a speaker,etc., may be implemented to be included in the computer apparatus 200,such as a smartphone.

According to other example embodiments, the computer apparatus 200 mayinclude a number of components greater than or less than a number ofcomponents shown in FIG. 2. However, there is no need to clearlyillustrate many components according to the related art. For example,the computer apparatus 200 may include at least a portion of the I/Oapparatus 250, or may further include other components, for example, atransceiver, a database (DB), and the like.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user informationcollection system according to an example embodiment. FIG. 3 illustratesa multi-tenant VDI management platform 310, user devices 320, a VDIservice provider 330, a multi-tenant VDI infrastructure 340, a softwareas a service (SaaS) provider 350, a personal data vault 360, and ablockchain based data controller 370. The user information collectionsystem may include at least the multi-tenant VDI management platform310.

The user devices 320 may include a personal computer (PC)/laptop 321, azero/thin terminal 322, and mobile devices 323.

The PC/laptop 321 refers to a terminal of a user that connects to a VDIservice in a general PC or laptop environment and may be used inresponse to a request for a computing capability of using an additionalservice or a specific service.

The zero/thin terminal 322 may provide a terminal environment with alimited function for using a VDI service.

The mobile device 323 refers to a terminal of a user that connects tothe VDI service in a mobile environment.

The VDI service provider 330 refers to a system of a provider thatdesires to collect user data by providing the VDI service and mayinclude an online provider, an existing advertising provider, a terminal(client) provider, and the like. That is, the VDI service provider 330may be a physical computer apparatus of a provider that desires tocollect data of a user, such as, for example, personal information, inexchange for providing a computing environment to the user in a userwaiting space.

Here, referring to FIG. 3, the VDI service provider 330 may include auser manager 331, an ad manager 332, and a data manager 333.

The user manager 331 may manage a user of the VDI service. For example,the user manager 331 may process user-related management, such as alevel of the user, a charge for use, and a use time.

The ad manager 332 may manage ad related information about the user ofthe VDI service. To this end, the ad manager 332 may be linked with anexternal advertising network.

The data manager 333 may manage a use record and sharing data of theuser collected through the VDI service. Data managed by the data manager333 may be used in various forms, such as, for example, personalizedadvertising and personalization of users using the VDI service. Here,the data may be used within the scope of a contract with the user.

Referring to FIG. 3, the multi-tenant VDI management platform 310 mayinclude a charging manager 311, a policy manager 312, a user manager313, a service provisioning manager 314, a VDI service image manager315, a VDI service lifecycle manager 316, a VDI service monitor 317, anda multi-tenant connection manager 318. Here, each of components (311 to318) may be a functional expression of a function performed by theprocessor 220 included in the computer apparatus 200 that implements themulti-tenant VDI management platform 310.

The charging manager 311 may manage charging information according tothe use of the VDI service. For example, the charging manager 311 maycharge the VDI service provider 330 based on an amount of time used bythe user. As another example, the charging manager 311 may allow aprovider of a specific website visited by the user or a provider of asoftware service used by the user to share expenses. Also, the chargingmanager 311 may provide a function of processing cost for linking withan external service, such as SaaS, and may provide a function ofprocessing a separate use of an individual user, such as, for example,purchase of a separate product and/or service, in the VDI service.

The policy manager 312 may manage a policy for the VDI service. Forexample, the policy manager 312 may manage VDI policy relatedinformation about use of the VDI service and collecting of user data.

The user manager 313 may manage information of the user that uses theVDI service. For example, the user manager 313 may manage information ofthe user based on the policy managed by the policy manager 312.

The service provisioning manager 314 may manage provisioning of the VDIservice provided from the VDI service provider 330 and may meet servicelevel agreement (SLA) requirements through management of provisioning.

The VDI service image manager 315 may manage an image of environmentinformation for the VDI service. An external storage, for example, animage store 380, may be used and an image may be provided from the VDIservice provider 330.

The VDI service lifecycle manager 316 may manage the overall lifecycleof the VDI service provided from the VDI service provider 330. Forexample, the VDI service lifecycle manager 316 may set a lifecycle foreach VDI service and may manage whether the set lifecycle is elapsed.

The VDI service monitor 317 may monitor the VDI service. For example,the VDI service monitor 317 may determine whether SLA requirements at anindividual user level are met and may also determine the appropriatenessof a providing state of the VDI service on a side of the VDI serviceprovider 330. For example, when the user uses a web service or anapplication using the VDI service, the VDI service monitor 317 mayevaluate the providing state as an SLA factor based on a response speed(a reaction speed), an available capacity, and a user connection state(VDI connectivity). Meanwhile, the VDI service provider 330 aims toprovide the VDI service to users and acquire user information accordingto a user using the provided VDI service. However, if the user performsan office work other than a browsing operation, a utilization value ofcorresponding information may be low. Therefore, if the appropriatenessof the providing state of the VDI service is determined from perspectiveof the VDI service provider 330 and an appropriate VDI service isprovided, it is possible to increase a utilization value of userinformation acquired through the VDI service.

The multi-tenant connection manager 318 may manage connectioninfrastructure information between at least one of a cloud (e.g., themulti-tenant VDI infrastructure 340) and an external SaaS (e.g., theSaaS provider 350) and the VDI service provider 330.

The multi-tenant VDI infrastructure 340 may be a cloud environment inwhich the VDI service operates. The cloud environment may be selected bya provider of the multi-tenant VDI management platform 310 and/or theVDI service provider 330.

The SaaS provider 350 may be a system of an external company thatprovides a specific service in a VDI environment. The VDI serviceprovider 330 may maximize a user lock-in and a service use time byproviding a specific SaaS function through the SaaS provider 350. Aservice may be provided in response to a contract with the VDI serviceprovider 330 or a request from the user and a separate charging modelmay be provided.

The personal data vault 360 may provide a function for managing personalinformation collected when the user uses the VDI service. Whether to usethe personal data vault 360 may be determined based on a contractbetween the VDI service provider 330 and the user. The personal datavault 360 may be present inside or outside the multi-tenant VDImanagement platform 310 and may store data using a separate encryptionscheme.

The blockchain based data controller 370 may provide a function ofexplicitly storing a transfer record of related data when providing userinformation collected through the use of the VDI service to the VDIservice provider 330 that processes cost according to the use of the VDIservice by the user. Here, a blockchain may be used to prevent forgeryand alteration of records.

FIGS. 4 to 6 illustrate examples of using a VDI service according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example in which the multi-tenant VDI managementplatform 310 may provide a service using the Internet as ageneral-purpose service. When accessing a third-party service, a usermay verify whether it is possible to access a corresponding VDI servicewith the multi-tenant VDI management platform 310 and/or the VDI serviceprovider 330 and then may need to acquire an access right. Themulti-tenant VDI management platform 310 may predefine the access rightand then template the predefined access right, and may use the templatedaccess right through connection to a user account or an attribute of agroup to which the user belongs. Here, the multi-tenant VDI managementplatform 310 may provide computing to reward the user.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which the multi-tenant VDI managementplatform 310 may provide a function capable of accessing only a specificservice allowed by the VDI service provider 330. For example, the VDIservice provider 330 may restrict the user to use only a specificservice, for example, a shopping site, a social service and/or a virtualreality (VR) based metaverse service, through the multi-tenant VDImanagement platform 310. That is, the multi-tenant VDI managementplatform 310 may provide a limited service for the purpose of inducingtraffic to a specific service and collecting user data related to thespecific service.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example in which the multi-tenant VDI managementplatform 310 may provide a service of a contracted SaaS company. Forexample, the multi-tenant VDI management platform 310 may provide alimited service such that Microsoft's MS Office 365-based service,Hancom’ cloud-based service, or an Adobe cloud-based service may beused. For example, the SaaS provider 350 may provide the correspondingVDI service to its service subscribers as the VDI service provider 330.To this end, the multi-tenant VDI management platform 310 may restrictproviding of the VDI service such that a service of the SaaS provider350 may be provider to users that are subscribers of the serviceprovided from the SaaS provider 350 among users of the VDI service.

FIGS. 7 to 9 illustrate examples of a structure for collecting useinformation of a user in a VDI according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the multi-tenant VDI managementplatform 310 includes a data collector 710 provided from the VDI serviceprovider 330 and an external module 720 configured to receive dataaccording to a service use by the user through the data collector 710.To this end, a mutual contract between the VDI service provider 330 andan external provider that provides the external module 720 is required.In the case of using a service, consent to provide data to the externalmodule 720 may be acquired from the user and then data may be extractedand provided. Depending on example embodiments, data may be stored in aninternal storage 730 or data stored in the internal storage 730 may beexported.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example in which an ad agent 820 is installed inthe multi-tenant VDI management platform 310 and an external module 810may acquire data through the ad agent 820. Through a contract between aprovider of the multi-tenant VDI management platform 310 and an externalprovider, the external provider may directly install the ad agent 820 inthe multi-tenant VDI management platform 310. The external module 810may collect data related to a service use by a user through the ad agent820. In this case, the external provider may proceed with a contractmanagement and the like according to data acquisition with the user.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which a federated learning agent 910that is a limited agent type is installed in the multi-tenant VDImanagement platform 310. For example, the external provider may installthe federated learning agent 910 in the multi-tenant VDI managementplatform 310 through a contract with the provider of the multi-tenantVDI management platform 310 and may collect model-based data through thefederated learning agent 910 in an external module 920. Using this, dataleakage of the user may be minimized.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a user informationcollection method according to an example embodiment. The userinformation collection method according to the example embodiment may beperformed by the computer apparatus 200 that implements the multi-tenantVDI management platform 310. Here, the processor 220 of the computerapparatus 200 may be configured to execute a control instructionaccording to a code of at least one computer program or a code of an OSincluded in the memory 210. Here, the processor 220 may control thecomputer apparatus 200 to perform operations 1010 to 1060 included inthe user information collection method of FIG. 10 in response to acontrol instruction provided from a code stored in the computerapparatus 200.

Referring to FIG. 10, in operation 1010, the computer apparatus mayreceive a VDI service request from a user. For example, the computerapparatus 200 as the multi-tenant VDI management platform 310 mayreceive the VDI service request from the user device 320. Also, thecomputer apparatus 200 may receive the VDI service request from acomputing resource close to a user environment, such as an edge cloud.

In operation 1020, the computer apparatus 200 may verify VDI servicecontract details of a VDI service provider to which the user belongs.For example, after completing authentication of the user that requests aVDI service, the computer apparatus 200 may verify whether to make acontract with the VDI service provider that may provide cost for anaccount of the user. Here, the VDI service provider may correspond tothe VDI service provider 330 of FIG. 3.

In operation 1030, the computer apparatus 200 may verify a capability ofthe VDI service based on a level of the user. For example, the computerapparatus 200 may verify a VDI capability providable from the VDIservice provider that may pay cost of the user. Through this, thecomputer apparatus 200 may differentiate the VDI service based on acharacteristic of the service and the level of the user. That is, thedifferentiated VDI service may be provided based on the level of theuser and the capability of the VDI service.

In operation 1040, the computer apparatus 200 may load a VDI image.Here, the VDI image may be an image for providing the VDI servicerequested by the user.

In operation 1050, the computer apparatus 200 may collect data accordingto the use of the VDI service by the user. The user may go through aconsent procedure of providing user information to the VDI serviceprovider at a time of using the VDI service. That is, the computerapparatus 200 may receive the content of the user to providing userinformation to the VDI service provider before providing the VDI serviceto the user. For example, the computer apparatus 200 may inform the VDIservice provider that the user information is provided in response tothe use of the VDI service and may provide the user with a userinterface for receiving the consent to this. The user's consent mayrepresent that a contract is made between the user and the VDI serviceprovider. Also, the computer apparatus 200 may collect data based on thecontract made between the user and the VDI service provider. Records ofthe collected data may be stored by the VDI service provider as aseparate snapshot. For example, providing of the user interface for theconsent and collecting of the data may be performed by the user manager331 of FIG. 3.

In operation 1060, the computer apparatus 200 may transfer the collecteddata. For example, the computer apparatus 200 may transfer the user datato the VDI service provider through a secure channel, for example, anaccess API form. Upon termination of the VDI service, the computerapparatus 200 may store a use record of the user. Depending on exampleembodiments, the computer apparatus 200 may store the use record of theuser in the personal data vault 360 and may store a record related totransferring the collected data in a blockchain or a nonmodifiableledger through the blockchain based data controller 370. For example,transfer of the collected data may be performed by the user manager 331of FIG. 3. Depending on example embodiments, as described above withreference to FIGS. 7 to 9, the computer apparatus 200 may transfer thecollected data to the VDI service provider or the external module of theexternal provider through a computer program (e.g., the data collector710, the ad agent 720, or the federated learning agent 910) providedfrom the VDI service provider or the external provider and installed onthe computer apparatus 200.

The collection range of data may include an access date and time of auser device (e.g., the user device 320 of FIG. 3), an access area of theuser device, basic VDI information, and additional VDI information.

The access area of the user device may use global positioning system(GPS) information in the case of a mobile device and may use Internetprotocol (IP) information in the case of a wired device. Also, the basicVDI information may include the user's use environment, use time, use IPaddress, and VDI image type. Also, the additional VDI information mayinclude a VDI service provision range, a VDI service use record (e.g., aprint, a third party access and attach), and an application (e.g., abrowser) use record within VDI.

The VDI service provider 330 that receives the VDI service request fromthe user may reduce burden of cost used to supply the VDI servicethrough a real-time bidding for VDI service support companies (e.g.,advertising providers or data collection companies) that desire toobtain information of a corresponding user when supplying the VDIservice in response to the corresponding VDI service request.

To this end, the VDI service provider 330 may define a characteristic ofthe user by analyzing user use information and may link with a VDIservice support company that requests collection of related user databased on the defined characteristic of the user when the correspondinguser uses the VDI service.

As described above, according to some example embodiments, onlineservice providers and/or adverting providers may provide a VDI-basedcomputing service to users and may collect user information generatedthrough the provided VDI-based computing service. For example, users mayuse a VDI-based computing service provided from a service provider underthe condition of providing user information to a service provider thatprovides the VDI-based computing service or advertising providerscontracted with the service provider. The service provider may collectpersonal information on the VDI and may provide an advertising serviceor a personalized service to the users based on the collected personalinformation.

The systems and/or apparatuses described herein may be implemented usinghardware components, software components, and/or a combination thereof.For example, a processing device and components described herein may beimplemented using one or more general-purpose or special purposecomputers, such as, for example, a processor, a controller, anarithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, amicrocomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmablelogic unit (PLU), a microprocessor, or any other device capable ofresponding to and executing instructions in a defined manner. Theprocessing device may run an operating system (OS) and one or moresoftware applications that run on the OS. The processing device also mayaccess, store, manipulate, process, and create data in response toexecution of the software. For purpose of simplicity, the description ofa processing device is used as singular; however, one skilled in the artwill appreciated that a processing device may include multipleprocessing elements and/or multiple types of processing elements. Forexample, a processing device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, different processingconfigurations are possible, such as parallel processors.

The software may include a computer program, a piece of code, aninstruction, or some combination thereof, for independently orcollectively instructing or configuring the processing device to operateas desired. Software and/or data may be embodied permanently ortemporarily in any type of machine, component, physical equipment,virtual equipment, computer storage medium or device, or in a propagatedsignal wave capable of providing instructions or data to or beinginterpreted by the processing device. The software also may bedistributed over network coupled computer systems so that the softwareis stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In particular, thesoftware and data may be stored by one or more computer readable storagemediums.

The methods according to the example embodiments may be recorded innon-transitory computer-readable media including program instructions toimplement various operations embodied by a computer. Here, the media maybe to continuously store a computer-executable program or to temporarilystore the same for execution or download. Also, the media may include,alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, datastructures, and the like. The media and program instructions may bethose specially designed and constructed for the purposes, or they maybe of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in thecomputer software arts. Examples of non-transitory computer-readablemedia include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, andmagnetic tape; optical media such as CD ROM disks and DVD;magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices thatare specially to store and perform program instructions, such asread-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, andthe like. Examples of other media may include recording media andstorage media managed by an app store that distributes applications or asite, a server, and the like that supplies and distributes other varioustypes of software. Examples of program instructions include both machinecode, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher levelcode that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.

While this disclosure includes specific example embodiments, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various alterationsand modifications in form and details may be made in these exampleembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimsand their equivalents. For example, suitable results may be achieved ifthe described techniques are performed in a different order, and/or ifcomponents in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit arecombined in a different manner, and/or replaced or supplemented by othercomponents or their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the disclosureis defined not by the detailed description, but by the claims and theirequivalents, and all variations within the scope of the claims and theirequivalents are to be construed as being included in the disclosure.

1. A user information collection system implemented by at least onecomputer apparatus, the user information collection system comprising: aservice provisioning manager configured to manage provisioning of avirtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) service provided from a VDI serviceprovider; a charging manager configured to manage charging informationaccording to a use of the VDI service by a user; a policy managerconfigured to manage a policy for the VDI service; a user managerconfigured to manage information of the user using the VDI service; aVDI service lifecycle manager configured to manage a lifecycle of theVDI service provided from the VDI service provider, the lifecycle beingset for the VDI service, and the VDI service lifecycle managerdetermining whether the lifecycle for the VDI service is elapsed; and amulti-tenant connection manager configured to manage connectioninfrastructure information between a cloud environment for providing theVDI service and the VDI service provider and/or between externalsoftware as a service (SaaS) and the VDI service provider, wherein theuser manager is configured to collect data according to the use of theVDI service by the user, and transfer the collected data to the VDIservice provider that provides the VDI service, and wherein the chargingmanager is configured to charge cost according to the use of the VDIservice by the user to at least one of the VDI service provider, aprovider of a specific website visited by the user, and a provider of asoftware service used by the user such that the cost is paid by the VDIservice provider or is co-charged with the provider of the specificwebsite or the provider of the software service, in exchange forcollecting the data according to the use of the VDI service.
 2. The userinformation collection system of claim 1, wherein the user manager isconfigured to provide a user interface for receiving a consent ontransferring the data collected according to the use of the VDI serviceby the user to the VDI service provider.
 3. The user informationcollection system of claim 2, wherein a record related to transferringthe collected data to the VDI service provider is stored in a blockchainor an unmodifiable ledger.
 4. The user information collection system ofclaim 1, further comprising: a VDI service monitor configured to monitorthe VDI service and to determine whether service level agreement (SLA)requirements of an individual user level are met.
 5. The userinformation collection system of claim 4, wherein the VDI servicemonitor is configured to evaluate a provision state of the VDI serviceaccording to the VDI service provider.
 6. (canceled)
 7. The userinformation collection system of claim 1, wherein the VDI serviceprovider comprises a physical computer apparatus of a provider thatdesires to collect user data through providing of the VDI service. 8.The user information collection system of claim 1, wherein a computerprogram provided from the VDI service provider or an external provideris installed and executed on the user information collection system, andan external module of the VDI service provider or an external module ofthe external provider is configured to receive data of the usercollected by the user information collection system through the computerprogram that is installed and executed on the user informationcollection system.
 9. The user information collection system of claim 8,wherein the computer program provided from the external providercomprises an advertising (ad) agent or a federated learning agent.
 10. Auser information collection method executed by a computer apparatusincluding a user information collection system comprising at least oneprocessor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: manageprovisioning of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) service providedfrom a VDI service provider; manage charging information according to ause of the VDI service by a user; manage a policy for the VDI service;manage information of the user using the VDI service; manage a lifecycleof the VDI service provided from the VDI service provider, the lifecyclebeing set for the VDI service, and whether the lifecycle for the VDIservice is elapsed being determined; and manage connectioninfrastructure information between a cloud environment for providing theVDI service and the VDI service provider and/or between externalsoftware as a service (SaaS) and the VDI service provider, the userinformation collection method comprising the following steps, executedby the computer apparatus: receiving a VDI service request from theuser; verifying VDI service contract details of the VDI service providerto which the user belongs, the VDI service contract details includinginformation on a contract between the user and the VDI service providerand a VDI capability providable from the VDI service provider; verifyinga capability of the VDI service for providing the user with adifferentiated VDI service based on a level associated with the user andthe VDI capability, the differentiated VDI service being provided to theuser based on the level and the VDI capability; collecting dataaccording to a use of the differentiated VDI service by the user;transferring the collected data to the VDI service provider; andcharging cost according to the use of the differentiated VDI service bythe user to at least one of the VDI service provider, a provider of aspecific website visited by the user, and a provider of a softwareservice used by the user such that the cost is paid by the VDI serviceprovider or is co-charged with the provider of the specific website orthe provider of the software service, in exchange for collecting thedata according to the use of the differentiated VDI service.
 11. Theuser information collection method of claim 10, wherein a computerprogram provided from the VDI service provider or an external provideris installed and executed on the computer apparatus, and thetransferring of the collected data comprises transmitting the collecteddata to an external module of the VDI service provider or an externalmodule of the external provider through the computer program that isinstalled and executed on the user information collection system. 12.(canceled)
 13. (canceled)
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable recordmedium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, causethe processor to perform the user information collection method of claim10.